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Another Tesla with Autopilot crashed into a stationary object—the driver is suing
Earlier this month, Shawn Hudson's Tesla Model S crashed into a stalled car while moving at about 80 miles per hour on a Florida freeway. Tesla's Autopilot technology was engaged at the time, and Hudson has now filed a lawsuit against Tesla in state courts.
"Through a pervasive national marketing campaign and a purposefully manipulative sales pitch, Tesla has duped consumers" into believing that Autpilot can "transport passengers at highway speeds with minimal input and oversight," the lawsuit says.
Hudson had a two-hour commute to his job at an auto dealership. He says that he heard about Tesla's Autopilot technology last year and went to a Tesla dealership to learn more.
"Tesla's sales representative reassured Hudson that all he needed to do as the driver of the vehicle is to occasionally place his hand on the steering wheel and that the vehicle would 'do everything else,'" the lawsuit claims.
Tesla blames driver in last month's fatal crash with Autopilot engaged
But that description of Tesla's Autopilot system is not true. While the system can handle a range of driving conditions, it's not designed to stop for parked cars or other stationary objects when traveling at highway speeds. This year, at least two other Tesla drivers have plowed into parked vehicles while their cars were in Autopilot mode (one of them sued Tesla last month). Another Tesla customer, Californian Walter Huang, was killed when his Tesla vehicle ran into a concrete lane divider at full speed.
"It is the driver's responsibility to remain attentive to their surroundings and in control of the vehicle at all times," a Tesla spokesman told Ars by email. "Tesla goes to great lengths to provide clear instructions about what Autopilot is and is not, including by offering driver instructions when owners test drive and take delivery of their car, before drivers enable Autopilot and every single time they use Autopilot, as well as through the Owner's Manual and Release Notes for software updates." (I've reproduced Tesla's full emailed statement at the end of the story.)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by ataradov on Sunday November 04 2018, @07:43AM (13 children)
Safety railings are also directly ahead in the tight turns. I'm not sure if there are such tight turns on the highways, but there definitely are on off-ramps and highway interchanges.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 04 2018, @09:40AM (10 children)
I'm not sure if there are such tight turns on the highways,
It varies wildly. Interstate highways have very high standards, meaning you'll almost never see such tight turns. But, drive I-40 across N. Carolina, and you'll see them! US Highways also have pretty high standards, a little lower than Interstates. But, in the Carolinas and West Virginia, some other places, you'll see curves so tight you begin to wonder if you're looking at your own taillights ahead of you. Lesser highways - anything goes.
What's certain is, when the car sees something directly ahead, if it masses more than a pound or two, the damned thing should BRAKE!! The more massive the object, the harder the braking should be. Any human moron can run into a granite face of a mountain - God knows I've seen it. We expect the programmers to be able to do better.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 04 2018, @09:41AM
and . . . I messed up that quote tag . . .
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Sunday November 04 2018, @10:26AM (1 child)
I've seen them too in more rural areas. I think Texas.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @11:57AM
Texas is not rural, it's polite wilderness.
(Score: 3, Informative) by number11 on Sunday November 04 2018, @04:08PM (4 children)
The first time you take I-90 through downtown Cleveland OH, you discover that the sign painter wasn't exaggerating when painting the sign showing a 90 degree turn.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 04 2018, @05:21PM (3 children)
Dead Man's Curve. It was snowing, the lake was doing it's best to blow up onto the interstate - it was a miserable day. Traffic was moving about 20 mph, some braver souls were doing maybe 25. Some dumbass in a brand new Toyota Landcruiser came flying into the curve at about 50 mph or so. He learned the hard way. Few of us have seen that curve, I would imagine. The speed limit is 35 under the best of conditions. Hey - it's on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8otLNgtyGE [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by number11 on Sunday November 04 2018, @10:24PM
Yup. If you survive your first encounter with that curve, you treat it with great respect after that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 05 2018, @06:38PM (1 child)
what kind of dumb ass puts a 90 on a highway...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday November 05 2018, @07:37PM
Politicians, of course. That highway could have taken any route at all through Cleveland - short of running it through the courthouse. Eminent domain was used in many cases when the Interstate Highways were built. They could have mowed down any neighborhood that wasn't home to the city's wealthiest, and most influential people. They could have bulldozed right through any, or all, of the ethnic minority neighborhoods. But, someone wanted that shoreline veiw, or some such nonsense. And, it was probably the least valuable property in the city. Anything built there is going to flood. Cleveland doesn't get the lake effect snow that Buffalo gets, but it's the same lake, with pretty much the same weather patterns. The lake does try really really hard, at times, to submerge that stretch of highway. Maybe it succeeds sometimes, and I wasn't around to see it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @07:18PM (1 child)
Good idea. Now how do you determine the mass of the object in front of the car?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday November 05 2018, @03:04AM
Camera, radar, laser, and maybe a spectrometer. If the computer isn't sure, you burn a hole in it to see what it's composed off. Hmm - what does cat look like with a spectrometer?
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Sunday November 04 2018, @05:32PM (1 child)
Pretty much any curve is pretty tight at 80 mph.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @07:31PM
Which is 10mph over the legal limit in Florida.